City's busy brush dump will remain open through Saturday

LACONIA — The city brush dump on Hilliard Road at the Weirs, which was empty before the storm on the eve of Thanksgiving Day, was filled yesterday with the limbs and branches felled by the heavy, wet snow and by noon was aflame.

John Neal, general foreman at the Department of Public Works (DPW), said that the brush dump will remain open to residents on both Friday and Saturday this week, from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. The dump closed for the winter in early November but reopening for a few days to help people deal with storm damage. Neal said the added Saturday hours would provide those unable to take time away from work on weekdays an opportunity to dispose debris from the storm.

At the dump yesterday, DPW worker Tony Linkkila, who had not been home since the day before, said that empty space has filled up quickly. Within the circular road around the dump, he said that the pile of fallen limbs had grown large enough to require burning and was ringed by more brush to be consigned to the flames. "Usually we don't burn until after Christmas when we've picked up the trees," he said.

Apart from residents bringing debris to the dump, Neal said that three crews have been working since Friday to clean up after the storm. "Everybody has been hard at it," he remarked, confessing that he had lost track of what day of the week it was.

At midday Mike Kelly set the pile alight. He doused a patch of pine and pallets with diesel fuel and with a wand called a "rosebud" attached to a propane tank lit the fire. Linkkila said that it had been raining on the brush since 1 a.m. and was not surprised the fire was slow to spread. Neal expected the fire to burn around the clock through the week.

This week the DPW has waived all restrictions on size and will accept all limbs and branches regardless of their length and diameter.

To reach the brush dump turn go to the roundabout at the Weirs, turn north on Endicott Street (Rte. 3), and past the Meredith Bridge Condominiums turn left on to Hillard Road. The dump is one mile down the road on the right.